The Mastering Show

By The Mastering Show Podcast

This is the show where we cover all aspects of mastering. If you're interested in mastering, want to learn how to get better results mastering your own music, or even want to be a mastering engineer, ... more

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FAQs about The Mastering Show:

How many episodes does The Mastering Show have?

The podcast currently has 105 episodes available.

The Mastering Show episodes:

October 14, 2023 The Mastering Show #90 - Inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiting - the devilish details
Everyone is talking about inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiters - or in fact it’s more accurate to say they’re arguing about whether ISPs are audible or not, and whether True Peak limiters sound bad !
In this episode I’m joined by Alexey Lukin, iZotope’s “godfather of RX”, to talk in detail about exactly what ISPs are and why they’re so confusing - including:
* How are inter-sample peaks measured, and why do you see different results with different meters ?
* What are DSP overshoot peaks, and how are they different ?
* What does over-sampling have to do with all this, and why is it important ?
* Do True Peak limiters really sound bad, and how should we test them ?
* Why will they NOT prevent lossy decoder clipping, sometimes ? And
* What the hell are we supposed to do about all this ?!?
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
...more
49min
August 06, 2023 The Mastering Show #89 - Sonic Fundamentals for Podcasters with Matt Boudreau
If you’re not already listening to Matt Boudreau’s fantastic podcast Working Class Audio, you need to start now !
Matt is a highly respected mixing and mastering engineer who has recently moved into working in Dolby Atmos, where he’s already picked up some seriously impressive credits - oh, and also produces one of the top Audio podcasts around.
Which is why if I try to think of anyone better to learn the fundamentals of good audio for podcasting and journalism from… well, I can’t. And the great news is that Matt has put together a new “PodClass” course to help people with just that.
In this episode we talk about the course and what inspired it, but also plenty of other great stuff, including
Making the move from pro musician to audio engineer
Getting started in Atmos - workflow, dynamics and more
Work-Life balance - is it better to be a lark, or a night-owl ?
The secret advantages of running your own podcast...
…and the crucial importance of great audio (And what it has to do with COVID lockdowns !)
Enjoy - and if you want to try Matt’s course, make sure to use the discount code TMS to get a 30% discount and help support The Mastering Show at the same time !
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
...more
49min
February 15, 2023 The Mastering Show #88 - Do DJs REALLY want loud masters ?
DJs get a lot of flak, especially about loudness. There’s a deep-seated belief that “loud” masters are still a requirement for club music, and that DJs are somehow to blame.
But is this fair ? The reality is much more complicated and interesting than the popular cliche that DJs will only play loud masters, and in this episode Ian dives deep into the issue with Joe Caithness, who works as both a DJ and a mastering engineer. Topics include:

The reality of DJ-ing
The problem with peaks
Loudness ? Or consistency ?
The power of Pioneer
The shocking missed opportunity of loudness metadata
The ‘sound’ of loudness

And much more !

Full shownotes on our site
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-88
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
...more
1h 26min
December 17, 2022 The Mastering Show #87 - Fix mastering problems - in the recording !
It’s amazing what mastering can achieve - but it’s also amazing how many things can influence the results we get right from the recording stage.
In this episode Ian talks to Mike Senior about how to fix mastering problems at the recording stage, without using a time machine ! Topics include how to avoid:

Muddy mids
Harsh guitars
Sibilance
Resonant snares
Boomy or hollow vocals
Exposed vocals
Stereo image issues

And many more !

Links

Mike has put together a fantastic page of resources for this episode, including an excellent video about stereo mic technique - click here make sure you check it out !

https://cambridge-mt.com/misc/mastering-show-2212-resources/

https://themasteringshow.com/episode-87
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
...more
1h 15min
November 16, 2022 The Mastering Show #86 - Mastering plugins - technical versus creative
As mastering plugins become more sophisticated and more technical, there’s an interesting trend towards making the interfaces… less so.
As well as traditional technical terms and numbered scales, controls labelled with less technical terms like “warmth”, “bite” and “colour” are becoming more common. And some interfaces are just… bizarre !

Is that good ? Or not ? In this episode Jon and I like at some more unconventional plugin user interface designs, and discuss:

Why technical interfaces can be a problem
When a more creative approach can be a good thing...
…and when it’s not
Some of our favourite ‘unconventional' plugin designs
But are they better than just closing our eyes ?!
Should plugins emulate the design of the hardware
And does it make them sound better ?!?

Full show notes - http://themasteringshow.com/episode-86
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
...more
43min
July 07, 2022 The Mastering Show #85 - Mixerman versus Mastering
You’ve probably heard of Eric Sarafin, aka Mixerman, but have you heard what he has to say about mastering ?
As always it’s entertaining, potentially controversial but also thought-provoking, so it seemed like a good idea to get him on the show and ask him to explain himself ! We talk about:

* Why he thinks if you don’t make money from your music, you shouldn’t pay for mastering
* Whether an online mastering service is actually a better option for a musician starting out (gasp)
* Eric's favourite limiter, how he uses it and why
* How loud he makes his mixes
* Recent potentially game-changing developments...
* And why they might make mastering engineers obsolete !

Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-85
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
...more
56min
June 29, 2022 Don't Miss This...
For more information:
www.homemastering.com
...more
8min
June 17, 2022 A quick heads-up !
Not a full episode, but something you might be interested in, hopefully ?
For more information about Perception AB: www.meterplugs.com/perception-ab
Mastering demo: https://www.meterplugs.com/blog/2022/06/14/mastering-with-perception-ab.html
Mixing demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKTuxK3ThAk
...more
3min
June 08, 2022 The Mastering Show #84 - Apple switch to LUFS and enable Sound Check by default
This is huge - Apple have finally started using LUFS for their loudness normalisation, which means all the major streaming services now use the same method to measure loudness !
And perhaps more importantly, they’ve enable Sound Check by default on new devices. As always there are plenty of devilish details to be aware of though, so in this episode we talk in detail about this change, including:
* Why it’s so important
* How much music online is REALLY normalised anyway ?
* Why the answer is surprising to many musicians and engineers
* Why Apple finally made this change
* A few quirks and gotchas
* Why it’s good news
* And what to do about it (and what NOT to do!)
Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-84
Mentioned in this episode:
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
...more
45min
May 10, 2022 The Mastering Show #83 - Mastering for clubs & DJs with Luca Pretolesi
In this episode we tackle one of the biggest challenges in modern mastering - the demand for super-loud masters in the dance & EDM genres.
Our guest is Luca Pretolesi, and we talk to him in-depth about his approach to mastering for clubs & DJs. Luca’s masters are loud and we're always emphasising the value of balanced dynamics in mastering on this show, so you might think it would be an uncomfortable conversation... or you might be surprised.
Some of the topics we cover include:
* Why do DJs demand loud masters for club playback ?
* Luca’s strategy to deliver this without sacrificing dynamics for streaming
* Hint - it’s NOT all about limiting and compression
* How loud Luca's masters are (which may not be quite as loud as you think)
* The club genres that DON’T demand extreme loudness
* Where things might go in future
Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-83
Mentioned in this episode:
Mastering
Click HERE to work with Ian
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
...more
58min

FAQs about The Mastering Show:

How many episodes does The Mastering Show have?

The podcast currently has 105 episodes available.

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